The Little Leon That Could
by imaginarydaydreams
Summary: How and why Leo became one of the most well-renowned Nohrian mages in history. A take on Leo's reasoning and drive to become a great mage. Spoilers for Revelation Endgame.


"…And they lived happily ever after. The end!" A cheery voice bounced through the room, magnifying the volume of the speaker. The owner of the voice, a young boy roughly around five years old, clutched onto the top edge of the thick fairy tale book he had been reading from. He looked to his left, then to his right, at the three figures who had been listening eagerly to his story.

"You know, you read exceptionally well for someone your age, Leo," A boy way older than the little boy commented from his right, giving him a gentle smile. "I'm quite impressed with how attentive you are with your studies."

"Yes, I agree, Xander," a girl with lavender hair said from Leo's left. "From what I've heard from the tutors, our little Leo is quite the prodigy. I'm sure Father would be very proud of him."

Leo's heart warmed up at the compliments. He set the book down in his lap, eyes sparkling as he turned to look at the boy on his right. "Do you really mean it, Big Brother Xander—" Leo then turned to his left—"and you too, Big Sister Camilla? Do you really think that Father would be proud of me?"

The girl, Camilla, only smiled fondly at Leo, reaching up a hand to softly ruffle his short blond locks. "I'm absolutely sure, my darling little brother."

Another boy–this one only slightly older than Leo–shifted excitedly on from Camilla's lap as he tried to lean closer to Leo to get a look at the book. This made Camilla giggle and hold tightly onto the boy. "Corrin, settle down," she laughed as the boy wiggled about, "I know that you like when we visit, but you have to calm down, my sweet."

"Ah, sorry, Big Sister," the boy said and ceased his movements. His hands grabbed at the edge of the couch's cushion, attempting to anchor himself lest he fall over from the excitement. He then looked at Leo and grinned, "Leo, you're really smart, you know? I wouldn't be surprised if you became the greatest mage in all of Nohr!"

This offhand comment caught the child off-guard. _'Greatest mage'?_ Leo hadn't heard that one before. Come to think of it, besides the occasional polite compliments, Leo had never been outright praised like that before. Was Corrin being serious? Leo decided to press it. He shifted the giant book in his lap and turned to his older sibling. "You really think I'm smart enough to become a mage, Big Brother Corrin?"

"Think so? I know so!" Corrin scrambled up from his spot on Camilla's lap to stand in front of them and spread his arms wide, waving them animatedly. He gave Leo the biggest and most enthusiastic grin he could muster. "Gunter told me that mages are super smart. They study really hard, carry around these big tomes that are written in different languages, and can do magic from their fingertips! You're the smartest person I know; you always like studying and—unlike me—you actually understand what the tutors teach you. You won't just become a mage, Leo. You have the potential to be the greatest mage that ever was!"

"Corrin's right," Xander spoke up, turning towards his little brother. He placed a hand gently on Leo's shoulder. "Perhaps if you keep with your studies, you may be able to wield the most powerful of tomes one day. I would not be surprised if you already can."

Leo's eyes sparkled in both elation and wonder. He glanced in awe at all three of his siblings, who only gave him sweet smiles in kind. Those gestures only made the little boy even happier.

The tender moment was interrupted by the chiming of a nearby grandfather clock, ringing once, twice…up to ten times. It was already ten in the evening? When had that happened?

Xander was the first to stand up from the couch. "Well, it seems that it is way into the evening…and way past your bedtimes." He looked at both Corrin and Leo and extended out a hand. "Come, you two, time to go to bed."

"But I don't want to," Corrin whined yet still took Xander's hand. "I want to read more stories! It's not often that you guys get to visit."

"We can read more stories tomorrow, Corrin," Camilla said and took Corrin's other hand. "After all, we're still here until tomorrow anyways."

"Fine," Corrin sighed, then laughed. He was about to walk out with his two siblings when he realized something and stopped, pulling Xander and Camilla to a halt as well. He looked over his shoulder at Leo, who was still clutching onto the book of fairy tales and sitting on the couch. Leo stood up, walking over to the bookshelves and eyeing them intensely. Corrin was about to ask what exactly Leo was doing when a soft voice spoke up.

"Hey, Corrin?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind if I take this book with me? And these too," Leo mumbled, glancing at some of the hardcover novels lining the shelves. "If it's okay with you, I wanna take these back to Castle Krakenburg to read. That way, I can learn more things."

"Of course, Leo, you didn't even have to ask!" Corrin dropped both of his older siblings' hands to run over to his little brother, reaching up to take the heavy books that Leo pointed out off the shelves. After all the books were piled up, Corrin attempted to pick them all up—like the good big brother he was—but ended up buckling under the weight. Xander and Camilla only laughed at the display and went to go take some of the books (much to Corrin's distaste).

The four of them, books in hand, walked to Leo's guest room first to drop them off. Leo dashed inside first and motioned for the trio to drop the books on his bed. When all was said and done, each of them bade him a good night (and a kiss on the forehead, in Camilla's case) and walked out of his room, closing the door behind them.

Once their footsteps retreated from earshot, Leo looked to his bed at the stacks of books that littered the mattress. He planned to read one, no, maybe half of the books there, all in one night. But first, he had to do something.

Leo scurried over to the desk and searched the drawers for something…aha! A journal! He sat it on the desk's surface and dug around the drawers again for a candle and a quill, sitting them beside the journal. He lit the candle with a match he found and climbed up onto the chair. He stared at the blank pages and contemplated what exactly he wanted to write. He thought back to Xander's, Camilla's, and Corrin's words to him and he felt a warm feeling deep in his chest.

Often times, Leo had been praised by his tutors for being able to keep up with his studies. And while that was all fine and dandy, it still didn't measure up to the level of greatness that all of his older siblings were capable of. And he was reminded of that; whenever he would get compliments from the tutors, they usually were followed by 'like your older siblings!' Leo thought that he would never be able to escape their shadows…but at that moment, they had encouraged him in something that he excelled in. That in itself was rare. He planned to take their kind words and use them to fuel his determination. He was going to make them proud one day.

Leo sat at the desk, watching as the candlelight flickered across the journal, painting the blank page in brilliant reds and oranges. Picking up his quill pen and dipping it into the ink, he began penning his thoughts onto the sheet.

 _'Today, I read…'_

* * *

The moon was already overhead, dancing a midnight waltz alongside twinkling stars that glittered with frivolity at their little party. The halls of the castle were dark and quiet, save for the sounds of soft footsteps and a single flame illuminating the outlines of a figure onto the hard granite tiles.

After years of fighting and turmoil, the war in Valla had finally come to a close. Ryouma and Xander had been crowned kings of their respective countries, as well as Corrin becoming King of Valla alongside his wife, Azura.

Leo himself, having returned to Nohr with his family, decided to work under his older brother as one of his royal advisors. Though the work was difficult–it was tiring having to argue with those stuffy elders–it was at least rewarding knowing that his ideas would be used to help reform his beloved kingdom.

It was already well past evening, but Leo couldn't sleep, thoughts running rampart in his mind. There were so many negotiations to iron out concerning the relations between Hoshido and Nohr, so many people in Nohr who still blamed Hoshido for everything that happened. He needed something to distract himself, some sort of solace, and what better way to relax than to go to the castle's library. At least there, he'd be able to organize his thoughts among the company of some of his favorite authors.

Approaching the all-too-familiar double doors, he pushed them open, revealing shelves upon shelves of rare novels that had been collected over the years. The smell of ink and paper filled the air, but Leon never felt more at home. He walked inside of the room, using the candle to move about and read some of the novel titles as he passed. Maybe he'd find some light reading or something that he hadn't read in a while.

He moved from shelf to shelf, glancing over the spines of the tomes sitting upon the shelves. He had read a good majority of the books in the library, so he could already tell which book was which, just based upon the color of the cover and the lettering etched onto the book's spine. The candle's flame flickered over a thick red book with gold lettering. **_'Advanced Calculus'?_** He wasn't in the mood for something so basic. The flame's light ghosted over a blue book with bold white letters. **_'History of Military Strategies for the Nohrian Army?'_** He had already read that one about six times now.

Leo huffed slightly in frustration. Was there really no book that he could find in such a vast collection? He was about to turn around and just try to go back to sleep when the candlelight briefly ran over a rather ratty-looking cover, the edges of the leather frayed and fading.

Leo paused, gazing at the cover. Well this one was odd; he walked over to it and examined the spine. There wasn't any elegant lettering of the sort, only some twine barely binding the pages together. Curious, he carefully pulled out the book and held it near the candle in order to get a better look.

His face lit up in recognition. Could it be…? It was. Gods, he hadn't seen this old journal in years. So this is where it ended up. Leo checked the spot next to where he had found the journal and…there it was. His old fairy tale book; he could recognize that bright orange cover anywhere.

Pulling the orange book from its spot as well, Leo tucked both books safely under his arm and walked over to his favorite armchair to sit down. After getting comfortable, he shifted the books from under his arm and placed them onto his lap, sitting the journal on top. He slowly opened the front cover of the old journal, looking over the childish scribbles with a fond expression. The nostalgia began to build up in his chest as he read the first passage aloud.

 _"Today, I read my favorite fairy tale to Big Sister Camilla, Big Brother Xander, and Big Brother Corrin when we went to go visit him at the Northern Fortress. Elise was sleeping, so she wasn't able to hear the story._

 _"But! My big siblings told me that they were impressed that I was able to read such difficult words. I must be really smart! Big Brother Corrin even told me so; he said that, if I continue to excel in my studies and build up my knowledge, maybe one day I can become the greatest mage in the world! And apparently mages are super smart since they always carry around those thick tomes._

 _"So, I've decided…From this day forth, I'm going to work hard towards my studies. Just they wait; I'm going to become the greatest mage in Nohr and make them proud one day!"_

A lone teardrop splashed onto the page, wetting the inked words from almost two decades ago. Leon brought up a hand to his cheek and drew it back, only to find his fingertips coated in fresh tears. He stared at his fingers dumbfounded, but soon broke out into a genuine smile.

"Greatest mage, huh," Leon laughed, dabbing at the tear stains on the page with the corner of his sleeve. He paused, sighing happily as he wiped another tear from his eye.

 _"…I hope I was able to make all of you proud."_


End file.
